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Windows Phone 8 goes gold: now what?

It's official: Microsoft's mobile operating system Windows Phone 8 has officially gone gold.

So what does that mean to you?

If you're a developer, the on-time "release to manufacturing" date is just one more piece of the puzzle between you and a general launch of Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 Software Development Kit, or SDK.

If you're a smartphone enthusiast and already planning to pick up a Windows Phone 8 device at some point in the future, then the gold status gives even more credibility to the rumors that an official Windows Phone 8 announcement will take place on October 29. It's also rumored that actual Windows Phone 8 smartphones will go on sale right after Microsoft's official reveal — according to ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley, some manufacturers might even put up some smartphones for preorder before then.

Now that Windows Phone 8 is gold, the Windows NT-based OS heads on out to manufacturers so they can customize and tweak their devices to ensure final compatibility.

Although a number of Windows Phone 8 features have already been revealed — including support for multi-core CPUs and 64-bit processors, additional screen resolutions (1280-by-720 and 1280-by-768), near-field communications, and more customizable live tiles (previously known as the Metro UI) — part of the reason why developers still don't have access to a general Windows Phone 8 SDK is that Microsoft doesn't want to tip the rest of what's inside Windows Phone 8 too early.

"The reason is that not all Windows Phone 8 features have been announced and our SDK includes comprehensive emulators that allow developers to test apps against a wide range of Windows Phone features," wrote Microsoft's Todd Brix in a post on the Windows Developer Blog Thursday.

"We recognize that this is a different approach to delivering tools than we've taken in the past. Our goal is to generate as much Windows Phone 8 excitement as possible to attract new customers when phones go on sale. This is one of many steps we're taking to help give you what you (and we) want most."

Microsoft is currently allowing developers of "most-downloaded apps" apply for access to the Windows Phone SDK 8.0 Developer Preview — sign-ups run until Monday at 5 p.m. PDT.

Judging by some of the comments to Brix's post, however, not all developers are thrilled by Microsoft's decision to play Windows Phone 8 so close to the vest.

"I understand that there are unannounced features that you want to keep hidden from people until you are ready to detail them. But it is a shame that this is holding devs back from testing the more basic features," wrote one commenter, Martin Anderson. "In the past you have had locked down emulator images, could this not be done at least before the full announcements are made?"